My friends, I had debated whether to do this “solemnity” of Sts. Peter and Paul, or return to Ordinary Time, and opted for the “solemnity.” Let me tell you why.  First off, “solemnity” means the state or quality of being serious and dignified.  So, with regard to Peter and Paul, that would mean that the Church hierarchy feels that when such a feast falls on Sunday, it supersedes the regular Sunday liturgy which today would be the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

   So, my consternation in opting for the solemnity of these really two, worthy men is that we don’t do the same for worthy women, other than our mother/sister, Mary of Nazareth.  Another worthy woman would be of course, St. Mary Magdala, whose feast day, July 24^th fell on a Sunday in 2022, and there was no solemnity for her like there is today for Peter and Paul.  In fact, in my liturgical calendar for 2022, her name wasn’t even mentioned!  I believe we can all guess why. 

   Mary Magdala, of which the second name is not the place that she is from, but actually is a word, meaning, “the Tower,” to describe her personality. In a revised biblical reading, it was discovered by a scriptural intern several years back, that this Mary proclaims the same words as does Peter in today’s gospel selection – “you are the Messiah, born of the Living God.”  I would guess this newer translation will never be universally accepted within the mainline Catholic church, but we will rectify all this on July 20^th when we celebrate Mary Magdala and all women at our Mass on the Farm.  I should add, the exception to the above rule of naming a Sunday, “a solemnity” where women are concerned, would happen when a female saint who was also the head of a religious order, such as St. Clare of Assisi, for the Poor Clares, or St. Mary MacKillop of the Cross (Australia), and then only for the specific groups, not universally. 

   So, for our purposes here today, we will give Peter and Paul their due. Besides, the Scripture readings for this feast give us some interesting questions to ponder.  Moving on then…

   Probably the main idea for all of us to consider today would be Jesus’ question to his disciples in today’s gospel from Matthew: “Who do you say that I am?”  We see that the answers given by his closest followers indicate that they believe, or are trying to believe, and accept that he is someone more than, “a brother, a mentor, a friend.”  And, in this gospel, the words spoken by Peter, say what the rest, on some level believe, but can’t yet, quite say!

   Once Peter says the words that he can’t yet fully understand, he seems to acquire a new strength, given by God through Jesus, to truly follow in his rabbi’s footsteps. 

   For us too my friends, searching our hearts first, and minds next, and putting what we find there, together, we have our “marching orders,” if we can say with Peter and others, in the memory of our brother Jesus, “You are the Messiah, and indeed the Christ – one big enough to be “God” for everyone. 

   And if indeed we can say the above words, then it signals what must come next.  If we believe that Jesus, born of God, came to be one-with-us, showing us how to live-love-and die, even rise, one day, to in fact become our best selves, following his example, then our mission is clear – to do the same, in his footsteps.   So, we are probably asking what that might look like in our daily lives?  A few present-day examples:

• We will do our best to love, to some degree, everyone who comes our way. Granted, this will be easier with some than others.
• If we personally have a “position” that grants us some power over others,” our responsibility whether in Church or State especially if we list “Christian” after our names, is to strive for honesty, respect, compassion, and justice in our dealings with others.
• More concretely, we may feel compelled, and hopefully, most of the time, to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves – that is if we are serious about following in Jesus’ footsteps.
• Additionally, on a more personal level, we should strive to walk humbly upon our beautiful earth amid all others; human, animal, and plant life, protecting, not abusing life, and not seeing ourselves above other life, but on an equal footing.  We could collectively name more actions, but you get the picture…

   The remaining Scriptures for today clearly state what our human journey may be like if we truly choose to follow our brother Jesus.  We see Peter being imprisoned; yet an angel comes to his assistance – I believe we have all had such “angels” in our lives.       The second reading, a letter to Timothy, Paul’s disciple, shows us Paul near the end of his life; “I have fought the good fight…finished the race…kept the faith” – hopefully words we can say too at our journey’s end. 

   The psalmist today gives hope and comfort with the words, “Our God hears the cry of the poor – blessed be our God!”  Now, on the surface level, I may have painted a somewhat dismal picture, but going deeper, I think each of us has experienced times when “we did the right thing” even if hard, even if we had to stand alone, and found at the end, there was a certain, peace, perhaps even joy, in making, “good trouble” – times when we realized that we did our piece to make life better for others. 

   I love Jesus’ words in Matthew’s gospel today where he gives Peter and his followers all the power required to do the new and different things that each age in our Church needs to respond to present-day life.  “Whatever you declare bound…or loosed…is done.” I still have hope that the so-called “leaders” in our beloved Church will one day cease claiming, “this can’t be done,” – but simply do! Simply include all, simply respect, simply love and simply, be just – all in the memory of our brother, Jesus.  Amen? Amen!